The Best Man
by LGCoffeeAddict
Summary: As Sam and Naomi make plans to remarry, Addison, the Maid of Honor, is forced to face her relationship demons when she learns that Mark and Pete will be groomsmen, Derek, Best Man, and half of Seattle is coming down to LA, including Alex Karev. Greys/PrP
1. Chapter 1

**The Best Man**

A **Private Practice **fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 1: The Announcement

**A/N: Hello, again! I am on my way back from a vacation where I had NO internet access from my computer. Naturally, I was going insane not being able to get my Addie-fixes, so I read a shitload of Addie-centric fics. Now I'm chock full of ideas and I've had this scenario in my mind for ages. Enjoy!**

**A/N 2: By the way, none of that absolute crap with Pete, Violet and Sheldon ever happened. Pete and Violet are only friends, and that's all they EVER will be in Gigi-land. Got it?**

A ring sparkled on Naomi Bennett's finger.

It was a familiar ring, tucked away in the bottom of her dresser drawer for almost a year and a half. But that's not what made it special. No, what made _this_ ring special was the finger on which it was nestled. The fourth finger of the left hand, to be exact.

Addison stared at that ring for almost ten minutes before finally caving. "Naomi, are you ever going to talk about it or were you just going to keep waiting until one of us brought it up?"

"Oh, thank God," Violet breathed, closing her eyes in relief. "I couldn't stand not knowing."

Naomi smiled a secretive smile, toying with the idea of acting like she had no idea what they were talking about, before finally speaking. "Sam came over last night and had dinner with Maya and me," she began. "We had told Maya not to get her hopes up when Sam and I started seeing each other again, and so naturally, my hopes weren't up either. We were sitting in the living room playing Pictionary, and Sam started to draw a ring."

"Wait," Violet interrupted. "I play Pictionary more than any of you, and I _know_ there is no ring card." It took a moment for the shrink to realize exactly what she had said. "Oh, my God, I really need a life."

"Yes, you do," Addison deadpanned. "Keep going, Naomi."

"Right. He started to draw a ring, and I started to notice it was very similar to the one he'd given me when he asked me to marry him. He even scribbled in the engraving, and when he was finished, he was on one knee and proposing with the picture in his hand." Naomi couldn't wipe the ridiculously happy grin off her face.

Addison and Violet leaned into each other, simultaneously going, "Aww!" The redhead got up and hugged the breath out of her best friend. "I'm so happy for you," she declared. Pulling back, she immediately got to the point. "So how far along are you on the wedding plans?"

"Not very," the newly engaged woman admitted. "We just know that we want Maya, Violet--" Violet clapped in excitement from her seat at the counter-- "and Charlotte as bridesmaids and you as Maid of Honor, if you will accept."

Addison's bright blue eyes lit up. "Of course!" she exclaimed, pulling her friend into another rib-crushing hug. "So, who will be the groomsmen?"

"So far, we have Pete, Cooper..." Naomi trailed off, looking apprehensive, hoping Addison wouldn't notice.

She did. "That's only two," she declared. "That won't work, unless you decide to get rid of one of the bridesmaids." Naomi flinced. "Naomi," Addison said slowly, "who is the third groomsman?"

"We were thinking of...Mark," she finally confessed. Naomi looked at her best friend, waiting for the explosion, but found instead a quiet simmer.

"Bye," Violet said, rushing out of the practice's kitchen.

"Mark," the OB/GYN repeated. "As in Mark Sloan?" Naomi nodded. "And I can only assume that Derek will be the Best Man?" Another nod. "So my ex-husband and ex-boyfriend will be at the wedding?" Yet another nod. "I have to walk down the aisle with my ex-husband?" At this point, Naomi was just perpetually nodding. "I have to dance with my ex-husband at the reception?" Naomi's neck was starting to hurt, but she continued to nod. "Is Richard invited?" She kept nodding. "Meaning half of Seattle will be sitting in the church?" A last nod, before Addison finally snapped. "Oh, will you just say something, already?"

"Don't be angry," Naomi pleaded.

Addison took a long look at the other woman's face, at last calming down. "I'm not mad," she sighed. "It's just that I haven't seen them since the whole thing with Archer, and that was almost a year ago. And it was always on my terms. I was always the one who came and went. None of them have seen my life here, and I don't know if I'm ready for them to see it yet."

"Well, the wedding isn't for three months, so you still have a little time to get yourself ready," Naomi comforted, but her efforts ended up backfiring.

"Three months?" came the strangled reply. Addison's eyes were wide and fearful. "They will be here in three months? That's so soon!"

"You'll be okay. You'll be ready."

Addison glared at the fertility specialist. "I better be, or you're going to have hell to pay," she promised.

**XD**

It was two weeks until the wedding, and there was still so much to do. Addison had her face buried in wedding plans while she walked in from a lunch that was spent tasting salads and various entrees for the reception. As a result, she went home and changed into her "fat work clothes," which consisted of a loose, halter top and wide-legged pants, before returning to Oceanside Wellness.

"Um, Addison?" Dell spoke up as she made her way across the lobby, pulling her out of the lists of wine.

"Yeah?" Addison answered, starting to fix her slightly windswept hair with her free hand.

"Were you expecting someone?"

Addison's hand stopped in her hair. "No," she said, puzzled. "Why?"

Dell didn't get the chance to answer, because Addison suddenly found a little boy hanging off her leg, yelling "Addie! Addie! Addie! Addie! Addie!"

Stumbling, Addison put her file and her purse on the front desk and bent down to pick up the little boy, peering into his chubby little face. Noticing the dark hair and the bright blue eyes, she laughed. "Benjamin? Is that you?" The boy nodded his head so much that Addison's arms actually started shaking. "Oh, you've grown so big! How old are you now, thirty?"

"I'm four!" he declared, holding up six tiny fingers straight in front of him.

Addison couldn't help but smile at the error. Grabbing two of his fingers and placing her forehead on his, she said, "You've gotten so old! Where's your mommy?" Benjamin pointed to a tall, thin woman with a dark brown bob.

"Addison Montgomery, as I live and breathe," the woman smiled.

"Nancy!" Addison rushed over to her former sister-in-law and wrapped the arm not holding Benjamin around her. "What are you doing here?"

"Little Benny here is going to be the ring bearer in Sam and Naomi's wedding," Nancy announced. "And, since I'm his mommy, I got to tag along. Kathleen will be here, too."

"Really?" Addison wasn't as excited about Kathleen as she was about Nancy. Sure, they got along, but Kathleen still held some resentment after Addison cheated on Derek. "Why?"

"Her Rosette is the flower girl," Nancy replied.

"Oh, well, that's fitting," Addison commented. She gestured to her office, "Come on back. We have so much to catch up on!"

"Well, can we wait for a second?" Nancy pleaded. "I'm meeting someone here, and I don't want them to think I stood them up."

"Oh, do I know them?"

At that moment, the elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal none other than Derek Shepherd. Addison froze, holding Benjamin on one hip, as she watched her ex-husband's eyes widen upon seeing her.

Nancy finally answered Addison. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you do."

**A/N: So, love it? Hate it? This was a super long chapter so I decided to cut it in half. You MIGHT get the other half if you're nice to me and review!**


	2. Misconceptions and Masks

**The Best Man**

A **Private Practice **fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2: Misconceptions and Masks

**A/N: I guess you could say this is part deux of chapter 1, but I really just couldn't stop writing, so here you go!  
**

**A/N2: Also, none of that crap with Callie, Izzie, George and later Hahn ever happened either. I LOVED Callie and George and kind of resented Izzie being such a McBitch about them, so in Gigi-land, Callie and George are still together and Callie was never a lesbian, but Izzie and Alex DID have a relationship (so that scene in Ex-Life between Alex and Addison about him asking if she was happy still happened). I'm sorry if you liked any of those storylines, but I prefer to live in Gigi-land. I hope some of you do, too!  
**

_At that moment, the elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal none other than Derek Shepherd. Addison froze, holding Benjamin on one hip, as she watched her ex-husband's eyes widen upon seeing her._

_Nancy finally answered Addison. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you do."_

Derek's breath caught when his eyes fell on his ex-wife. In the year since he last saw her—an unfortunate event that necessitated Addison's return to Seattle to get Derek to save her brother's life—she had changed so much, but then not so much. Since that visit, she had grown her hair back out and let it go back to it's natural color, a red so deep that people often thought it was dyed. Her hair fell a few inches below her shoulders, with bangs swept to the side of her forehead. She looked much like she used to, only better, more confident, more beautiful.

"Hey, Addison," he finally breathed out, walking across the lobby and hugging her. It felt good to do that again.

"H-Hi," Addison replied, responding to the hug as much as she could with a four-year-old on her hip. He looked just the same, maybe a little bit more tired. Her eyes flitted to his left hand. No ring. _What happened?_ _Wasn't he going to propose to Meredith last time I saw him?_ "What are you doing here? The wedding isn't for two weeks."

"Well, the Seattle-based wedding party decided to come down early. Richard and the rest are just getting settled. They'll be here later." Derek answered.

"Oh, that's...that's great," Addison said. She looked around the lobby, realizing that quite a few people were watching them. "Why don't we go into my office?" she suggested. "It's a little more private, and we really have to talk." Without waiting for an answer, Addison whipped around, making sure Benjamin was secure in her arms, and lead the way to her office.

Derek's eyes wandered the few parts of the practice he passed following Addison, taking in his ex-wife's new workplace. "This practice is...something," he commented as he crossed the threshold of the room with _Addison Forbes Montgomery, M.D. _written on the window. "It's impressive."

"Thank you, but I didn't know I needed your approval," Addison teased lightly, trying to lessen the tension. She put Benjamin down on the couch and gave him some paper and crayons to entertain himself with.

Apparently, Derek didn't get the joke, because he started babbling out apologies and explanations until his sister stopped him by changing the subject.

"Oh, these are too cute!" she exclaimed, picking up a double picture frame. Derek looked over Nancy's shoulder to see what she was looking at. On one side, there was a picture of a man sitting beside Addison—who was in sweats, by the way—who was holding a tiny baby girl. Addison and the man were smiling like proud parents. The other panel held a picture taken the same day of Addison making some sort of face to the baby, like a mother would to amuse her newborn. "What's her name?"

Addison walked over and peered over Nancy's other shoulder, smiling affectionately at the picture. "Melanie," she answered. "But I nicknamed her Batgirl."

While his sister laughed at the absurdity of the nickname, Derek was in complete and utter shock. Was this Addison's daughter? He never even knew she had been pregnant. "How old is she?" was all he could manage to ask.

Addison heard something in her ex's voice, suppressed emotion. Quirking an eyebrow at him, she counted in her head. "She'll be 15 months old in a few weeks."

Fifteen months. Addison had had a daughter when she'd visited the past two times. How could she not mention something like that? _Fifteen months!_

"Derek?" He refocused and realized Addison was closer to his face, worrying about his health. "Derek, are you okay?"

"How could you not tell me?" he asked in a cold, steely voice.

Addison was clearly taken aback by his tone, her eyes wide and her eyebrows arched. "Tell you what?"

"We were married for almost twelve years, and yet you didn't feel the need to tell me you'd had a _kid?"_ he demanded.

Addison had no idea where all this anger was coming from, but she suddenly realized what Derek was thinking. "That's because I _didn't_ have a kid," she stated calmly. "Melanie was a baby Pete and I saved as part of the Safe Surrender program. We got her at night, so we took care of her overnight before we were going to call Social Services. Those are pictures from the night we rescued our first baby, so we framed them. Pete has the same pictures in his office."

"Is this Pete?" Nancy pointed to the man in the picture. Addison nodded, setting the frame back on her desk. "He's cute."

"Glad someone seems to think so," came a voice from the doorway. "I was beginning to think the women of this practice had grown immune to me." Derek turned to see the new arrival and recognized the man from the picture.

"Pete, what are you doing here? Oh, Nancy, this is Pete; Pete this is Nancy, my former sister-in-law," Addison introduced, walking over to grab Pete's arm.

"But the fact that we're no longer related still seems to have no effect," Nancy finished for her friend. "We still keep in touch."

Pete nodded, amused at his friend's sister's babbling, and said, "It's nice to meet you, Nancy." He eyed her up and down appreciatively.

"Don't even think about it," Addison warned into his ear.

"I wasn't going to do anything," he insisted just as softly.

Addison gave him a skeptical look and introduced Pete to her ex-husband, who was watching the pair closely. "This is Derek. Derek, Pete. He's the alternative medicine practitioner here."

"Guru, not practitioner," Pete corrected, nudging Addison.

"Of course," she replied dryly, "because that doesn't seem like you have a God complex at _all_."

Finally something clicked in Pete's head, and he recognized the name of Addison's guest. "Is this _that_ Derek?" he asked quietly. When she nodded, he put his right hand forward and his left around Addison's waist. "Nice to meet you, Derek," Pete announced, shaking hands with the ex-husband.

Derek noticed Pete's hand pull Addison closer when he introduced himself. He also noticed the slight flush that colored Addison's cheeks, as if she knew what Pete was up to but she didn't have the heart to call him on it.

_Hands off, buddy,_ he thought to himself. _She's obviously not yours, and she doesn't need you protecting her, _especially_ not from me!_

A slightly malevolent glint flashed through Derek's clear blue eyes, daring Pete to put another hand on Addison. Slightly unnerved, Pete tried to divert his attention. "So who's this little fella?" He walked over to the toddler and squatted in front of him.

"I'm Benjamin!" the toddler declared, sticking his hand straight out in front of him, hitting Pete's forehead in the process.

_Way to go,_ Derek silently applauded.

Laughing, Pete took the tiny hand and introduced himself. "Hi, Benjamin. I'm Pete."

Nancy sidled over to the redhead and whispered, "He's very good with Benny."

Addison nodded in agreement, watching the two interact fondly. "He's always been amazingly good with kids."

"Is he any good in bed?" Derek heard his sister whisper this and strained his ears to hear Addison's answer.

Shocked, Addison turned to look at her sister-in-law. "I wouldn't know," she finally admitted, making sure to keep whispering. "It's complicated. I'll tell you later."

Pete rotated his body and faced the three doctors from his position on the floor. "So what are you guys doing in LA?"

"They're here for the wedding," Addison announced. "Benjamin is Nancy's son, and he's going to be the ring-bearer."

Pete looked to Derek. "I'm the Best Man," he said proudly.

He was going to be the Best Man. And Addison was going to be the Maid of Honor. A sour taste bloomed in Pete's mouth when he realized Derek and Addison would be spending a lot of time together over the next few weeks.

"Addison," Dell said, looking slightly harassed.

"Yes, Dell?"

"There are a ton of people in the lobby waiting to see you, and I have no idea what to do with them," he pleaded.

Addison held her hand up. "I got it." Walking out to the lobby, Addison almost fell on her back when Miranda and Callie bowled her over, hugging her like there was no tomorrow. "Hey, guys," she smiled when they had let her breathe once more. "I didn't know you were coming."

"Half the hospital came," Callie replied, stepping out of the way so Addison could see the group of people standing to see her.

Her mouth dropped open. Callie hadn't exaggerated. Richard, Mark, Karev, George, Izzie, Christina, Owen and Grey all stood there smiling.

"Hey, everybody," she greeted, eyeing Mark and Karev uneasily. She had expected to deal with Derek, Mark and Pete at the same time, but she had no warning that Karev was going to come along. Addison suddenly felt very sick.

Richard broke off from the group and embraced Addison like he would a daughter, even picking her up a little bit. "It's good to see you, Addie," he said. Addison smiled and hugged him back just as tightly.

Miranda saw Nancy, Benjamin and Derek walk into the lobby and asked, "Where the hell have you been?"

"What do you mean?" Derek looked a little uncomfortable as Addison stopped hugging her surrogate father and stared at him curiously.

"You guys just disappeared as soon as we landed. We had to carry your bags to the room." Miranda had her Nazi voice on.

"We just wanted to see Addison," Nancy excused, a little embarrassed.

While Miranda interrogated the two siblings, Mark and Alex examined Addison and her "new life." Mark saw a confident woman who was more at home in this practice than she ever was at Seattle Grace, but a woman who was still wearing a mask and hiding her feelings. Alex saw a woman who had been hurt a lot yet still managed to get out of bed every day, who somehow still believed happiness could be achieved but hadn't quite reached it yet.

Both men agreed on one point, though. Addison looked hotter than ever.

**A/N: So sorry I never posted this. I honestly thought I had, and I was wondering why all my reviews were for chapter 1. Then I realized it was the only chapter that had been posted! My bad!I added on that last scene to make up for my booboo. So REVIEW!**


	3. Beach Buds

**The Best Man**

A **Private Practice **fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3: Beach Buds

**A/N: I really don't feel like reading AP Chemistry or AP Lit stuff, so I'm writing some more. Note, this is the SECOND chapter I've updated today in the span of four hours. And also in those four hours, I finished a college essay, read a few pages for AP Chem, a few pages for AP Lit and started an assignment for AP Lit. May I remind you that I work in a research lab?**

The wedding was one week away, and Naomi was starting to freak out a little bit. Honestly, it should have been Addison's freak out, since it regarded the Bachelorette Party, but hey, who was she to deny the bride her panic attacks?

"Are we even having a party?" Naomi asked for the fourth time, pacing in the kitchen while Addison poured herself another cup of coffee. Dealing with Bridezilla and the Seattle crew at the same time was enough to make Addison lose a few hours of sleep a night. "Should we? I mean, I technically haven't been a bachelorette in almost fourteen years, and neither has Sam. Would it seem like we were trying too hard? Because I don't want to look like I'm yearning to be young and drink myself into a stupor, but I kind of do want a party and I just don't know what to--"

"Naomi!" Addison exclaimed. She was still holding the coffee pot in one hand and the cup in the other. "Calm down. We'll have a party at my house and invite both sides. That way you still get your party and you don't have to worry about the whole bachelorette, bachelor thing. Okay?"

The idea seemed like a good one to Naomi, so she nodded. "And you'll have booze?"

"I'll have booze," Addison affirmed.

"Okay, then."

**8D**

Addison was about to go insane with all the wedding preparations and the party she now had to plan. And so after work, she went home, changed into her bathing suit and settled herself in a lounging chair under an umbrella on the beach. Sighing with relief, she opened the trashy novel she brought with her and commenced her relaxation time.

**8D**

There wasn't much to hate about LA, Alex hated to admit. It also helped that their hotel was right on the beach, so whenever he got too claustrophobic he could just throw on his swim trunks and take a nice long run on the sand.

He was taking one such run when, about a mile away from his hotel, he spotted a familiar redhead layout out with her nose in a book. Slowing down, he started to approach her, looking at her body appreciatively on his way to her. She was wearing a crimson bikini with white flowers outlined in it, the perfect type for tanning and turning people's heads. He kind of regretted that she was lying on her stomach, but he consoled himself with the fact that he got a lovely view of his former boss's behind.

"Addison?" He announced himself once he finally reached her beach chair.

Addison's head snapped up at the sound of his voice, and she was suddenly very aware of the skimpiness of her bikini. Pushing her oversized sunglasses into her hair, she sat up and greeted him. "Hello, Karev," she said coolly. No need to let him know she was embarrassed, and there was no need to let him know she was trying her damnedest not to drool over his shirtless torso. "What are you doing here?"

"Our hotel's about a mile up the beach," Alex explained, pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "I was getting kind of tired of being cooped up all the time, and rooming with Bambi doesn't help matters much."

"So you literally run away from them," Addison smiled, laughing.

"Pretty much," Alex agreed, letting out a chuckle or two himself. "Mind if I join you?" Addison slid to the right to make room for Alex on the lounging chair. "So what are you doing here?"

"Well, my house is right there," Addison pointed out, gesturing to the building right behind her, "and I needed to relax. All this wedding stuff is stressing me out almost as much as Naomi." She worked her right shoulder as if in pain. "My back has been perpetually knotted up for about a month now. Pete's offered to help reduce the stress, but I really am not a huge believer in all of the stuff he does. But now I'm starting to wish I was."

It was like his brain no longer regulated Alex's mouth, and he heard himself offer, "Would you like me to give you a massage?"

Addison did a double-take. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," he semi-laughed.

"Uh, sure, if you want to," Addison said. Alex stood up and motioned for her to lay back down on her stomach. Once she followed his instructions, he set to work, rubbing her shoulders in slow, even circles. She wasn't lying when she said her back was completely knotted up; he was having a hard time getting them out without hurting her. Apparently, whatever he was doing was working, because before long, he heard Addison let out a small moan of pleasure. "Mm, that feels amazing."

Never before had such a small sound turned Alex on so much. He struggled to control himself while he continued to massage her back, instead devoting his attention to the small heart-shaped tattoo peeking out of her bikini bottom. "When did you get a tattoo?" he asked, trying to distract himself.

"Med school," she breathed out. Alex's attempt at distraction failed, because Addison seemed to have no idea how sexy she sounded at that moment. "For my 23rd birthday, we all got tattoos."

"We?"

"Me, Naomi, Sam, Derek," she answered. "Naomi got a heart, too, and Sam and Derek both got sunbursts on their right hipbones."

"Interesting," Alex replied, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Addison propped herself up on her arms and twisted so she could see Alex's face. "Do you have any tattoos?" Alex shook his head. "Really?"

"Why are you so surprised?"

"I don't know. You always struck me as the kind of guy who would have a tattoo or two."

"Well, Derek certainly doesn't strike me as a guy who has a tattoo," Alex defended.

Addison laughed. "Yeah, I guess not." Alex realized his hands were still on her back – even though she had made it virtually impossible to massage anymore – and quickly removed them. "Thanks," she said. "That really helped."

"No problem," he shrugged. His eyes fell to her body once more, taking in the swell of her breasts and the flattened contour of her stomach, before meeting her eyes again and realizing she'd just checked him out as well. "So I've got a confession to make that should make you happy."

"Really? What is it?"

He took a deep breath like it was the hardest thing in the world to tell her and said in dramatically depressed tones, "I've chosen to stay on the Gynie squad." Glancing up to see her reaction, he saw her eyes light up and her mouth open in a wide grin.

"You've chosen neo-nate as a specialty?" she asked in an excited voice. When he nodded, she squealed and hugged him. "I knew you secretly loved working on my service."

Alex wrapped his arms around her bare waist and laughed at her response to the news. "See? I told you it would make you happy." He pulled away from the hug just enough to look her in the eye and say, "As much as I enjoyed working on your service, it was working on _your_ service that I loved."

Addison's face sobered up as she realized what she was saying, not knowing whether to be touched or whether to slap him for constantly sending her mixed signals. Fortunately, she was saved the need to decide when her cell phone rang.

She quickly untangled herself from Alex and reached over to pick up the phone. "Dr. Montgomery," she answered. Alex couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that she was answering a professional call in a bikini. "Yes, this is she." Addison sat on the phone for a few seconds, listening to the other person who was obviously bugging her. "No, for the thousandth time, the cake is supposed to be delivered to my house on Friday." She listened a little bit more. "It's Tuesday, and I told you _Friday_. You have two choices, Jim. You can either have me pick up the cake today and refund fifty percent of my money or you can deliver it on Friday _like you said you would_ and keep the money. Your call." Addison smiled smugly. "Pleasure doing business with you, Jim." Hanging up the phone, she stared at Alex, who suddenly couldn't stop laughing. "What? What's so funny?"

"You..." he started, trying to catch his breath, "arguing about cakes on the phone...making mandates...and acting professional...in a bikini!" He realized it really wasn't funny enough to warrant so much laughing, but he really couldn't help it. He was clutching his side at a stitch that had bloomed from the hysterics.

Addison cracked an amused smile. "You're twelve, you know that?" she teased. He did nothing but nod. "Okay, then."

**A/N: I really could have made this chapter go on forever, but my laptop only has 35% left of its battery. Just be happy for the update and REVIEW!**


	4. First Dates and Sixty Days

**The Best Man**

A **Private Practice **fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4: First Dates and Sixty Days

**A/N: Okay, so I'm depressed. I am no longer part of the labor force, and so in a couple days I'll be at school with a whole lot less time to write. So I'm updating this story because I love it and I just recently acquired "The Way I Am," by Ingrid Michaelson, which always makes my heart hurt because Alex and Addison were so amazing. Anyway, here's the next chapter. It's a whopper, so make yourself comfortable—you'll be here for a while.**

"Derek!" Addison called out, chasing down her ex-husband, who was wandering the halls of the practice. He turned around when he heard his name and smiled upon seeing the redhead.

"Hey," he greeted cordially. Every time he did that, Addison couldn't help but blush the tiniest bit. He was always so happy to see her, like when they'd first started going out fifteen years ago.

"What are you doing for lunch?" she asked, holding a bunch of papers regarding the wedding, party, etc. Nothing concerning any of her patients.

Derek's eyebrows raised at her question. "Why?" She couldn't be asking him out. Could she?

"Because we still have stuff to plan for the _not_ bachelorette _nor_ bachelor party, and last minute details concerning the wedding," Addison answered, rifling through her papers. "Can you make lunch?"

Her hair fell in front of her face as she bent over the files in her hand, and Derek tenderly tucked it back behind her ear, making Addison look up in confusion. Her cheeks were flushed. "Sure. How about the Italian place down the street?"

Addison had no idea what was going on. When she felt his fingers brush her face in the middle of tucking back her hair, she couldn't stop the blood from rushing to her face, nor could she keep her heart from beating faster. It had been so long since he had been this sweet and caring to her that she'd forgotten the effect he had on her. So when he proposed they eat at the romantic Italian bistro down the street, it just sort of popped out of her mouth. "One o'clock?"

**8D**

Addison poked her head into Naomi's office at 12:45 p.m. to ask her to check out her last patient.

"Why?" Naomi asked after she'd accepted.

Addison debated whether or not to tell her best friend the nature of her plans for lunch, and so she stood awkwardly in the middle of the office trying to decide what to say. "I..." she started. "I think I have a date with Derek."

The file Naomi was holding dropped onto the desk. "What?"

"I don't know," Addison rushed to clarify. "I'm not exactly sure if it's a date or not."

"How can you not be sure?"

"Because I asked if he could go over some wedding details with me over lunch since I had no time during the workday. Then he was smiling at me and tucking my hair behind my ear and suggesting we eat at Cicada," she rambled, running her hand through her hair and pacing back and forth.

"But what about Meredith? Didn't he marry her?" Naomi pointed out.

"I have no idea!" Addison exclaimed. "He's not wearing a ring, and he's being sweet and caring to me. He's acting like he did when we first started going out, and it's messing with my head not knowing if he's married to the woman he left me for."

Naomi sighed and looked at her wall clock. "What time did you say you'd meet him?"

"One, why?" Addison followed Naomi's gaze to the clock. 12:53 p.m. "Shit! I'll be back in an hour. Wish me luck!"

Addison fled the room in a rush of flying red hair, leaving a very confused Naomi quietly leaning on her desk.

**8D**

Cicada was a posh, expensive, _romantic_ Italian restaurant in LA. It just screamed ambiance with its low lighting, its plush booths and its string quartet playing softly in the corner of each room.

When Addison sat down on one of the waiting booths, a young woman in all black and an apron approached her.

"I'm sorry," she excused. "Are you Addison Montgomery?"

"Yes, I am," Addison affirmed, suspicious. "Why?"

"A Dr. Shepherd has been asking for a tall redhead woman by the name of Addison Montgomery. He's at a booth in the back." The waitress offered her hand to help Addison up. "If you'll follow me."

The waitress took Addison to the very back of the restaurant, where Derek sat in an intimate corner booth waiting for her. He'd already ordered for her—a large plate of chicken Alfredo with two forks sat in between the both of them, just like it had on their first date.

"What is all this?" she queried once she sat down next to Derek.

"I saw this place yesterday and had this huge wave of nostalgia," he explained. His arm rested on the top of the booth behind her back. "I decided to indulge."

Addison broke her gaze with Derek and looked around her. The intimate corner booth, the plate of pasta, the soft lighting and the music were all very reminiscent of the first time he'd taken her out on a date. Tears pricked her eyes, and she bent her head down toward her hands, which were fiddling with the files in her lap. Her left hand stilled, and for the first time in almost a year, Addison missed seeing the two rings nestled on her fourth finger.

Thinking of her wedding rings, which were probably still floating at the bottom of the bay in Seattle, reminded Addison of her visit to Seattle last year. "What happened with Meredith?" she finally demanded. After the words left her mouth, her pale blue-green eyes sought his bright blue ones.

Derek's smile broke just a little when he heard her question. "Meredith and I are over. For good," he announced firmly. When he saw the questions swimming in Addison's eyes, he continued, "We broke up before I even had the chance to propose to her."

"But that was a year ago," Addison said. "You were going to propose to her when I went up to Seattle with Archer. That was a year ago."

Derek took a deep breath before saying anything else. He had to get this right. "I broke down after you left. When Jenny died, I broke down. I was an ass to you, and I'd humiliated us both, so I hid out in the trailer." Addison tilted her head to the side, remembering the scene that had occurred during surgery. "The Chief told Meredith I was going to propose to her, and so she came to the trailer to talk to me. I took a baseball bat and the ring, and I hit the ring into the woods."

Addison gasped. "Derek, that ring was your mother's!"

"I got it back after she left, don't worry," Derek assured her, moving his hand from the booth to her back. Addison jumped slightly when she felt it there, but she didn't tell him to move it. "But I didn't want to give it to her anymore. The only person I could ever think of giving it to...was you."

Addison froze. She'd never thought that Derek would ever want her back, so she'd never considered the possibility that she might want _him_ back. "I...I...I thought this was just to discuss wedding details," she finally got out. "I thought it was implied I wasn't talking about _our_ wedding."

Derek wanted to kick himself in the head. "Oh, no! I wasn't proposing," he insisted. He noticed that Addison suddenly started breathing easier after hearing that news. "It's just...I wanted to keep that possibility open. I miss you, Addie."

This was way too much for Addison to process, so she did all she could think to do. She babbled. "But that was a year ago," she repeated. "It's been a _year_ and you've made no move to contact me _ever_." Her eyes left his as she stared at the plate of pasta. After a moment of silence, she picked up a fork and twirled it in the pale white noodles. "Can we just eat now?" she pleaded. She needed to take her mind off of what her husband had just told her. _Ex-husband_, she emphasized mentally.

Derek nodded, picking up his own fork and twirling it in the pasta.

**8D**

Thirty minutes had passed since Derek's confession, and in that time, they had decided to hold the party the next night. If there was going to be as much liquor as Addison had promised Naomi, they would need a few days to get over the hangover before the wedding, so it was going to be that Tuesday night. All awkwardness had passed, and the two were laughing over their glasses of wine at the thought of Sam singing to Naomi again.

"Well, I don't see why he wouldn't this time," Derek insisted. "He did last time."

"And so did you." Addison smiled fondly at the memory. "You guys always had to do everything the same way. Tattoos, girlfriends, weddings..." she trailed off as she took a sip of red wine. Her eyes never left his the entire time.

Derek's eyes twinkled at the fact that they had become so comfortable again. "Well, we were pretty much inseparable for a time."

"I know," Addison interjected. "I had to listen to Mark whine about losing his best friend to a bald guy for two hours once."

"And he had to listen to me whine about losing my girlfriend to another girl whenever you and Naomi had one of your massive hangouts in the Hamptons," Derek retorted, poking Addison in the ribs with a finger.

They kept laughing for a few more seconds, but when the giggling subsided, it was like neither could tear their eyes from the others'. Slowly, Derek leaned in, and so did Addison.

Addison's eyes drifted shut when his lips touched hers. It had been so long since she'd felt his comforting, kind, sweet kiss, and she wanted to savor the familiarity. Bringing her free hand up to graze his jawbone, she gripped him by the back of his neck and kept his face near hers.

Derek was in heaven. He tilted his head to the side and put his wine glass on the table so he could wrap an arm around her waist, bringing her even closer. His tongue trailed along her lips, asking for entrance, which she granted willingly.

A cough made Addison and Derek both open their eyes and immediately separate their faces. They moved a few inches away from each other so they were a socially acceptable distance away from each other before they looked up to see the waitress standing there uncomfortably.

"I just wanted to give you the check," she breathed out softly, incapable of making eye contact with Derek as she handed him the bill. "I hope you enjoyed your meal."

**8D**

Addison raced back to the practice after lunch, needing to find Naomi before she burst. Unfortunately, Dell told her she was doing a house call.

"Seriously?" Addison demanded. "_Now_ she decides to do house calls?"

"Addison?" Callie asked cautiously, coming up behind her. "Are you okay?"

Turning to face the ortho resident, Addison looked around the lobby. She grabbed her hand and led her to her office. After closing the door behind her, Addison leaned on it and caught Callie's eye. "Derek and I kissed," she finally declared.

Callie's mouth dropped open, but no sound came out. Well, _sound_ came out, but no _words_. She just spluttered for a few minutes until Addison guided her to the couch. "When?" she managed to get out.

"Just now, at lunch," Addison answered, sitting beside Callie. She buried her face in her hands. "What the hell do I do now?"

"Well, what did you do after you kissed?" Callie started to rub circles in her friend's back.

"I ran," the redhead replied curtly. "I seriously just stared at my hands for five minutes while he paid the bill and then I _ran_." Lifting her head to rest on her hands, Addison looked back at Callie. "I have to see him every day for at least another week, and I have to deal with Mark and Alex and Pete, too, tomorrow night at our party."

"You and Derek are throwing a party?" Callie was usually practiced at interpreting Addison's freak-outs, but they hadn't been this bad in a while and Callie was lost. "Together?"

"Instead of having bachelorette and bachelor parties, we're having a joint party at my house tomorrow night," Addison explained. She looked her friend directly in the eye. "You better be there or..."

"Don't worry, I'll be there." _Wouldn't want to miss out on all the fun_, she mused to herself.

**8D**

The party was in full swing, and so far, Addison had successfully avoided any awkward conversations with her ex-husband. She was standing on her porch, looking out at the moonlight bouncing off the water of the beach, when Mark walked up with a beer in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

"Thanks," Addison smiled when he handed her the wine and stood beside her. "Why aren't you in there with everybody else?"

"I saw a beautiful woman standing alone outside, and I thought I would give her the pleasure of my company," he replied smoothly, shooting her a smile that she caught from the corner of her eye.

"Of course," she nodded. She smiled into her wine as she took a sip, enjoying their easy conversation.

"Why aren't _you_ in there with everybody else?" Mark questioned, turning his head to look at her. "The Addison I know would never leave a party without a host."

Addison laughed softly. "I haven't left a party without a host. Don't forget, Derek's also a host, so as long as he's still inside, I haven't done anything Miss Manners would frown upon," she pointed out. "I just needed some air. It's been kind of crazy having all of you here."

"I'll bet." Addison looked up at him, hearing something in his tone. "Derek's been asking about you all night," he said, watching her face for any sort of reaction and finding it in the form of a slight eyebrow raise. "Something happened between you two, didn't it?"

How did Mark do that? He always read his best friend so well that Addison wondered if he somehow knew what he was thinking. Sighing, Addison turned her head back to face the ocean. "He said some things to me yesterday, and I don't know how I feel about...what he said," she confided, raising her glass of wine to her lips once more.

"He's missed you," Mark divulged. "And for the record, so have I." Addison's head whipped back around and saw he was telling the truth. Emotion was written all over his face. "And I think Karev does, too."

"Why would you bring up Karev?" Addison asked. Why _would_ he bring up Karev? Why _then?_

"I lasted the sixty days," he stated.

Addison blinked. "What?"

"I lied to you when I said I'd slept with someone. I just didn't want you to feel guilty for not wanting me," Mark confessed. He turned his body so he faced her completely. "But I _did_ last the sixty days." He walked off before Addison could say anything else, and so she simply stood there looking after him.

**8D**

Pete watched Addison walk back into the party in a daze. He watched her refill her wine glass and take a long swig before refilling it once more. He waited until she sat herself down on her couch to join her.

"Hey, are you okay?" Addison looked up at the sound of his voice and smiled in relief at seeing it was him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "I'm just tired."

"Emotionally or physically?"

"Emotionally," she answered without hesitation. Pete always was gifted at getting her to talk. "All my exes are here, and they're saying all these things, and I have no idea what to think of any of it."

Pete brought her in for a comforting hug. "You'll know what you want eventually," he soothed. "Just tough it out this week, and then think about what you want."

"How the hell do you do that?" Addison pulled away from the hug and looked at Pete.

"Do what?"

"Make things seem so simple?"

Pete smirked. "It's just one of my many gifts."

**A/N: Sorry, Addisex fans! Since last chapter was primarily Addisex, I decided to make this one more about the other guys. I think I might have decided who I want to be the overall winner, the "Best Man," as it were, but it breaks my heart since that means dumping three perfect men. The poll on my profile is still open, so please, **_**please**_** vote for your favorite pairing and help me make this decision! And REVIEW! I wrote 2,782 words for you. You better review. NOW.**


	5. Gotta Run Faster

The Best Man

A **Private Practice** fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing.

Chapter 5: Gotta Run Faster

**A/N: Don't you love how I've successfully put off writing this chapter for almost a months so I wouldn't have to start dumping three amazing men? Geez, you'd think _I _was the one who had four incredibly hot men chasing after me.**

"Hey, Nancy, didn't you say Kathleen was coming?" Addison asked, passing her former sister-in-law a glass of red wine as she sat down next to her on her porch. Naomi sat across from them, laboring over a legal pad and talking to herself about her vows.

"She still is," Nancy answered. "Her husband apparently has the flu, and so she's not going to be here until Friday morning."

"Friday? That's the day before the wedding," Addison commented, picking up her own glass of wine. "Cutting it kinda close, don't you think?"

Nancy quirked her eyebrow at the redhead in amusement. "You really don't want her to come, do you?"

Addison simply swirled her wine in its glass. "So Nae, how are those vows coming along?"

"Why the hell did we even agree to writing our own vows? Couldn't we have just said the traditional vows?" Naomi demanded, ripping off yet another piece of yellow paper and throwing it in a crumpled ball to the ever-growing pile next to the trash can. Naomi had horrible aim.

The other two women chuckled. "Come on, Naomi," Nancy insisted, "it's not that hard."

"Or are you finally going to let us help?" Addison pushed. She was the Maid of Honor. She should get to have a say in the vows.

"Ugh, fine," Naomi conceded. "Gimme your best shot."

"Um, okay. Sam," Addison began, letting her eyes wander. Her gaze fell on the three men--Derek, Pete and Sam--she could see through the window in Sam's bedroom. Subconsciously, she fixated on the one with dark, wavy hair and piercing blue eyes. "I know we aren't the most traditional of married couples. We got busy, we got successful, and we grew apart. We spent a few years seeing other people, but something was always missing. I could never figure it out until I felt your lips on mine once again, and then it became clear. Never have I ever felt so comfortable in someone's arms, so secure, so loved. And I promise that, now we're older and wiser, I'm never going to stop wanting to be in your arms." She slowly came out of her trance-like state, sipping her wine and finally noticing the stunned looks she was receiving from Nancy and Naomi. "What?"

"Addie, that was beautiful," Nancy declared, her eyes shining.

"I almost feel guilty for using that," Naomi chimed in as she wrote furiously.

"Why should you feel guilty?" Addison was completely lost as to why they were making such a big deal out of it. She'd just made it up on the spot.

"You weren't secretly saying that to my brother, were you?" Nancy queried, nodding up to where Addison had been staring.

"What? No! That was Naomi and Sam all the way," Addison denied. "It's not my fault our relationships were similar, except for the whole getting-back-together part." She prayed Callie had kept her mouth shut about the kiss. She peered over her chair into her house, where the rest of the female half of the party continued having a gay old time. The men had gone over to Sam's.

"Are you sure?" Addison nodded. "Then what's the scoop on the alternative medicine guy?"

"No, forget Pete," Naomi interjected. "What's going on with you and Karev?"

Addison couldn't answer either of them. She had _no_ idea what the scoop was on the alternative medicine guy, nor did she know what was going on with her and Karev. And then she had Mark's confession to think about, not to mention Derek's _kiss_.

"I'm getting a headache," she blurted out, getting up from her chair. "I think I'm gonna take a walk, clear my mind a little bit." And with that, Addison fled the scene.

**8D**

Walking along the beach with her flip-flops in her hand, Addison savored the feeling of the sand between her toes, inhaled the salty air, reveled in the soft sound of the waves crashing on the shore.

"So apparently, we only see each other on beaches," Alex's voice broke the silence behind her.

Addison turned around and continued walking backwards, smiling. "Apparently," she agreed, slowing down so he could catch up to her.

"So what are you doing walking on the beach instead of helping writing Naomi's vows?" he questioned, settling into an easy stroll alongside the redhead.

"We're done, and the conversation had officially segued into pestering me about my love life, so I decided a walk would be nice," she answered absentmindedly. She kicked at the sand a little bit, staring off into the dark sky. "What about you? Why aren't you taking advantage of all the free booze?"

"I saw a woman who was walking around alone at night, and I thought I would protect her from sexual predators," Alex grinned.

Addison shot him a sideways glance. "Oh yeah, I definitely believe that all that went through your mind before you made the conscious decision to follow me out here."

"How would you know if it did or not?"

"I know you," she replied smoothly, not noticing the broad grin that adorned Alex's face.

"Okay, so what would happen if someone came up behind you and tackled you to the ground?" he prompted playfully.

"I wouldn't let that happen," Addison stated, smiling at her former intern. The two glasses of wine she'd had that night made her inhibitions melt away as she toyed with Alex. "I'm faster than I look, and I'm scrappy."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Show me," Alex challenged. Okay, so he was a little drunk, too.

"You sure?" He nodded. "And you would be the supposed attacker?" Once again, he nodded. "You're gonna regret that."

"Why?"

He got his answer in the form of an elbow to the gut. In the split-second he was doubled over in pain, Addison bolted ahead of him, an intoxicating stream of laughter trailing behind her. Alex quickly committed himself to catching up with the running redhead.

Reaching forward, Alex grabbed her arm as she threw it back and used the momentum to roll them both into the sand. When they stopped rolling, Alex sat on Addison's navel, pinning her arms above her head, and they were both laughing uncontrollably.

"You're gonna have to be faster than that to get away from me," he chided, smirking.

"You're right. I've learned my lesson," Addison giggled, flushed.

The laughter faded eventually, but the pair didn't move from their position in the sand. It wasn't even until their lips met that either of them noticed he'd been getting closer and closer to her face.

Addison's eyelids flickered shut as she responded to the kiss. Alex still had her hands pinned above her head, so when he slipped his tongue into her mouth, she arched her back into him, her hormones sent into chaos. Alex moved one hand from holding both of hers and slid it down the side of her body, grazing the side of her breast and eliciting a moan of pleasure from the woman underneath him.

"Well, well," Callie's voice interrupted the couple's intense make-out session. "What have we here?"

Alex rolled off Addison so quickly that Callie almost thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. The only thing that kept it firm in Callie's mind that she'd just caught Addison and Alex one step away from reenacting a particularly memorable scene from _From Here to Eternity_ was the fact that they were both brushing the sand off of themselves and each other. Addison, for one, had a ton of sand in her hair.

"Having fun?" Callie asked, thoroughly amused. Even in the darkness, she could tell Addison was blushing furiously. "You do realize I will be holding this over both your heads for the next ten years, don't you?"

**A/N: Haha, and you thought Derek was a shooin'! MUAHAHA! You know I'm not gonna make it that easy. We haven't even gotten to the wedding day yet! Okay, so the poll is still up, so keep up that voting! And REVIEW!!!!**


	6. Never Leave the Party

The Best Man

A **Private Practice** fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing.

Chapter 6: Never Leave a Party

**A/N: Before I apologize for my lack of updating, I want to apologize for my last author's note. I was apparently really hyped up on caffeine when I wrote that, and when I reread it I was **_**not**_** expecting my evil laughter to come out. You can practically tell I had a cup of coffee next to me as I jumped up and down in my seat haha. Okay, well here's the next installment. Enjoy!**

_Alex rolled off Addison so quickly that Callie almost thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. The only thing that kept it firm in Callie's mind that she'd just caught Addison and Alex one step away from reenacting a particularly memorable scene from From Here to Eternity was the fact that they were both brushing the sand off of themselves and each other. Addison, for one, had a ton of sand in her hair._

_"Having fun?" Callie asked, thoroughly amused. Even in the darkness, she could tell Addison was blushing furiously. "You do realize I will be holding this over both your heads for the next ten years, don't you?" _

"Callie, _please_ don't say anything to anybody," Addison begged. Alex, who was standing slightly behind her, noticed she had a large amount of sand stuck to the back of her pants, and, without thinking, brushed it off for her. As soon as she felt his hands on her butt, Addison jumped a foot in the air and slapped Alex's arm. "Don't touch my ass!" she shrieked in surprise.

"Ow! I was just trying to get the sand off of it," Alex told her, nursing a probably bruised arm. "That _hurt_."

"Don't be such a baby," Addison chided, promptly forgetting Callie's presence in the whole debacle. "I didn't hit you that hard. Let me see." She stepped closer to him and rolled up his sleeve so she could see where she'd slapped him. Even in the flickering light of the bonfire between the two houses, Addison could see the redness blooming on his triceps. "I actually made a mark," she declared, fighting back the laughter that threatened to break free.

"Hey, that's not funny," he replied lamely. Alex attempted to maintain his pitiable state, but even he could see the ridiculous nature of the situation. He, a former wrestler, was complaining about a slap made by a frightened redhead. Soon they both were leaning on each other in laughter.

"I'll just leave you two alone then," Callie called out, wondering if that was even going to make them aware that she was the reason they weren't having sex on the beach at that very moment and that she was still there, watching them struggle to stand straight. _Mm...a Sex on the Beach sounds amazing right now_, she thought to herself. "Carry on," she said awkwardly.

**8D**

Mark was standing around Sam's pool table, watching as Richard tried desperately to salvage his pride against Dell, when they saw two people walking on the beach.

"Is that Addison?" Mark asked curiously to no one in particular. The light (or lack thereof) made it difficult to discern who exactly were on the beach.

Pete walked up just in time to hear Mark's question, having given up on helping Sam. He followed Mark's gaze and saw the two people on the beach. He considered the suggestion briefly before shaking his head. "Addison would never leave her own party," he insisted. Mark whipped his head around to see who was talking, and they shared a knowing look. Both men knew just how true that was, both men having tried unsuccessfully to pull her into other activities that involved a lot less people and a _whole_ lot less clothes.

But despite the dark lighting and the loud music and people's voices all around the two men, one single sound filtered through all of that. Whenever Addison laughed really hard, her distinctive laugh could be heard at very long distances. That sound, coupled with the faint vision of the woman on the beach throwing back her head, confirmed that Addison had indeed done the unthinkable--she'd left the party.

"Who is she with?" Pete queried, peering into the darkness, trying to make out the face.

Mark looked around the party to see who was missing. Derek was still upstairs trying to help Sam write his vows, and Pete was right next to him. "Karev," he growled. Why did Karev always find a way to make Addison want him more than Mark?

"Who's Karev?"

"In short, the reason Addison came down here in the first place," Mark answered curtly. He missed the puzzled look Pete shot at him; he was too busy glaring at Karev.

**8D**

Derek gazed out the window of Sam's bedroom on the second floor, exasperated by Sam's need for perfection. He thought they'd hit perfection about twenty minutes ago, but whatever. He was only the Best Man.

Movement on the beach drew Derek's eyes to a couple walking in the sand along the water. Squinting, he managed to make out Addison's face and smile through the darkness. It had been so long since he'd seen her so light, so carefree, and it killed him that he wasn't the one to make her that way.

Derek focused his scrutiny onto the person who was making her laugh so hard, and he repressed a growl that threatened to burst from his throat at seeing the guy: Alex Karev. Since when were they so chummy?

Addison walked a few paces ahead, turning around and smiling at Alex. He caught her hand and pulled her into him. Even from afar, Derek knew what was coming. Averting his eyes, he returned to helping Sam with his vows with a sour taste in his mouth.

**8D**

Addison was actually having fun walking on the beach with Alex, more fun than she'd expected. She thought all they ever had was sexual tension. _No, that's just what you told yourself_, a voice in her head corrected. They were just enjoying each other's company in a way that didn't require them to have their tongues down each other's throats, and it was nice.

"Don't you just love the beach when it's like this?" she insisted, walking a little bit ahead of Alex and inhaling the salty air. "It's private, just you and the water." She turned around to face Alex and smiled. "I love the smell of the beach."

Alex laughed a little bit as he walked up and took her hand, pulling her closer to him. He made a big show of whiffing Addison. "You smell like the beach," he stated with a broad smile.

Eyes twinkling, Addison did the same for him, unable to keep the giggle out of her voice as she realized what they were doing was really odd. "You smell like the beach, too," she replied. They locked eyes for a moment, but both pairs looked down toward the other's lips, which were slowly closing the gap between them.

**8D**

Mark turned his head right before Addison and Alex got closer, having been distracted by a string of expletives let out by Richard. But Pete saw it. His jaw clenched when he saw the two kissing, apparently unaware that they were in perfect sight of Sam's house. Kissing Addison on the beach was _his_ thing, not this _kid's_!

**8D**

Addison came to work with a smile on her face, and as she set her bags in her office and went to the birthing suite to prepare it for her first patient. While she was in there, Pete walked in and leaned on the counter.

"Hey," she greeted, walking to the cabinet to get out some drapes. Closing the cabinet, she catches his eye, noticing a certain determination in them. "What?"

"You left the party," he declared. Addison nodded, not really sure where this was going. "The beach was our thing, you know."

Realization hit Addison in the forehead like a ton of bricks. "You saw us?" she asked timidly.

"You were right in front of Sam's house, so yeah, I saw you," he responded levelly.

"Shit," Addison breathed out, leaning her back against the counter.

"I'm not mad, you know," Pete said. He moved closer so that he stood right next to the redhead, who looked up at him.

"You're not?"

A small squeal emitted from Addison's mouth when Pete did another one of their "things" and picked her up and placed her on the counter. Looking directly into her pale blue eyes, Pete answered her, "Nope," and then his lips were on hers.

In all the confusion of the wedding, Addison had almost forgotten how intoxicating Pete's kisses were, especially because of the lead-up to them. He was never one for subtle, and his methods of kissing a woman drove Addison insane. He tugged on her waist, pulling her hips closer to his, and caressed skin on her thigh as her dress rode up inch by inch. His tongue slipped past her lips and almost sent her over the edge right then and there.

They separated utterly out of breath but with light smiles and dark eyes. "What was that for," she panted.

Pete leant in and kissed a spot behind Addison's right ear before whispering huskily, "Just reminding you that I good for more than just hugs and comforting." He pulled back and gave her a fixed stare, making sure she got his message. She did, loud and clear. "See you later," he declared, disentangling himself from her and walking out of the room.

"Bye," she called after him. As soon as the door shut behind him, Addison buried her head in her hands. "In the span of three days, I've been kissed by three different men. Mark, please be the nice guy and don't confuse me anymore!" she whispered to herself. "I don't know how much more my lips can take."

**A/N: Okay. I'm going to go ahead and tell you something: you're not going to find out who the "Best Man" is until the actual wedding, so you can still keep voting, and I'm still going to keep confusing you. I'm like 90 percent sure that I know who it'll be, but if enough votes say otherwise, I'll reconsider. Now press the pretty button and REVIEW!**


	7. Me, Too

**The Best Man**

A **Private Practice **fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7: Me, Too

**A/N: Enough votes said otherwise! The Best Man has officially been changed, not that you were going to know until the wedding anyway, but just so you know. So right now, it has been changed, but oftentimes my fingers don't really pay attention to my brain so we'll see how it goes.**

On Friday morning, Addison sat in the atrium of LAX, swirling a martini in its glass and tapping her fingers on the bar counter. Checking her watch with an exasperated sigh, Addison placed the glass on the counter and looked to her former sister-in-law. "Nancy, I thought she was supposed to be here an hour ago," she complained.

"Addie, calm down," Nancy urged, reaching out and squeezing the redhead's arm. "Kathleen called me before she boarded and said that there had been a two-hour delay due to bad weather."

Addison's blue eyes widened with incredulity. "Nancy Lynn Shepherd-Branson, you did _not_ lie to me and make me come here two hours earlier than I had to," she hissed venomously.

Nancy winced at the use of her full name. She felt like she was being lectured by her mother, and that was never a good feeling to have. "I knew I'd have to convince you all over again to come, and quite honestly, I didn't have the energy to do that," she admitted sheepishly.

"Oh, because _this_ is definitely less of a hassle," Addison retorted sarcastically, gesturing around them. "The rehearsal dinner is tonight, and I have tons of things I could have done to prepare during these two lost hours."

"Oh, stop being such a drama queen," Nancy dismissed. She took a sip of her own martini and checked the flight tracking on her BlackBerry. "Her flight will be landing in half an hour, so there's no use in whining."

"I was not whining!" Addison protested.

"You totally were," Nancy teased over her martini glass in such a way that, after a few seconds of glaring at her fellow OB/GYN, Addison couldn't stop the smile from sneaking its way onto her face.

"I've missed having you as a sister," she confided softly.

"Me, too, Addie. Me, too," Nancy whispered back with a sense of nostalgia. The two doctors turned back to their martinis and waited for the half-hour to pass until Kathleen's plane arrived.

**8D**

By the time Addison had dropped Nancy and Kathleen off at the hotel to get situated, she completely remembered why she dreaded the other sister's arrival. She all but stormed into her office and started pacing, trying to work off some of the frustration and anger before she encountered anyone else and went off on them.

On her warpath to her office, Addison passed Derek, who definitely noticed her sour expression and followed her in. "Addison?" he asked, poking his head through the doorway before allowing his body to completely enter her office. "What's wrong?"

Red hair flew in the air as Addison whipped around in response to his voice. She paused just for a second before resuming her pacing. "What's wrong?" she repeated angrily. "What's wrong is your sister."

"Ah, so I take it Kathleen arrived safely?" Derek tried his hardest to hide the amused smile that threatened to break out on his face. He knew that if Addison saw him laughing at her pain, she wouldn't hesitate before slapping him upside the head.

"Yes, Derek, your sister is safe and sound in her hotel suite, something you should be grateful to me for, because I was this close—" she held up a hand that revealed two fingers a centimeter apart –"to taking Nancy and 'forgetting' to swing by and get her once I'd picked up the car!" Addison was in full-on rant mode now, and Derek knew better than to interfere so he just waited for her to continue. "That woman just finds pleasure in making me feel like a good-for-nothing whore who just randomly decided to cheat on her brother with his best friend out of the blue!"

Derek did a double take at the last sentence. "Did she really bring that up?" he pressed incredulously.

"You know your sister, Derek," Addison stated furiously as she continued her pacing. "Kathleen, the ever-perfect psychiatrist, would never say something that could directly be taken as an insult. You may have called me the Queen of Passive Aggresiva, but your sister has passive aggressive down to an art. She is way worse than I was, and quite frankly, I'm insulted that you ever thought I was worse." Addison stopped pacing and bit out every word of that last sentence in her ex-husband's face. "She's the queen of subtext and implications. Your _sister_ would have made Busy _very_ proud."

As much as Derek felt a duty to his sister to defend her, he found himself nodding along, half out of fear and half out of agreement. "I'm sorry about Kathleen. She can't seem to get past that night, even though I have. I'll talk to her if that helps at all," he said calmly. He brought his hands to her arms and pulled her in for a comforting, soothing hug. She must have been genuinely upset, because she let herself relax into him, and she didn't comment when he rubbed circles in her back to calm her down.

Five minutes later, Addison finally extricated herself from Derek's arms and sent him a small, unsure smile. "Thanks for, you know, putting up with me and my ranting," she muttered.

"Anytime," Derek smiled.

**8D**

The rehearsal dinner was going according to schedule, and so far, nothing horrible or humiliating had happened as of yet. Naomi and Sam were nauseatingly happy in each other's arms as they greeted their guests and thanked them for coming. Addison, who channeled Audrey Hepburn in a little knee-length black dress with a high neck and virtually no back but for two crossing stripes of fabric, tucked a strand of stray hair back into her sleek bun as she circulated around the dinner, making sure the hors d'oeuvres were distributed on time, among other things.

Addison, being the amazing party-planning genius that she was, very cleverly decided to make the seating chart for the rehearsal dinner to be according to sides. One half of the room was the bride's side, and the other half was for the groom's guests. That made it so that Addison sat to Naomi's right and Derek sat to Sam's left. That way, Addison wouldn't be forced to make awkward small talk with her ex-husband, and Naomi wouldn't be dying to know what was going on.

Of course, in her efforts to avoid sitting next to her ex-husband, she failed to realize that _some_one—she was going to _kill_ Naomi—had seated none other than Alex Karev on her other side. Once everybody had taken his or her seat, Addison almost jumped right back out when she looked to her right and saw her former intern's face smirking at her. She almost asked him what the hell he was doing sitting there when she saw the small place card in front of him. Snatching it up, Addison examined the card and read "Alex Karev" in flowing, cursive script.

Replacing the card in front of Alex, Addison nudged Naomi in the ribs and returned Alex's smirk with a smile of her own. "Hello, Karev," she greeted, as if they hadn't made out and played on the beach just three nights earlier.

Alex's smirk only grew at hearing her nickname for him and responded in kind. "Dr. Montgomery," he nodded.

Callie, who was walking past the seated pair on her way to the bathroom, paused at the formality in their voices. She bent down and whispered exasperatedly in the space between the pair's heads, "Please tell me you're not being _professional_ after what I caught you two doing."

"Callie Torres!" Addison hissed. Her cheeks started to flush in embarrassment when she felt Naomi lean in closer to eavesdrop. Callie was never really good at the whole whispering thing. "You'd better leave before I decide you're no longer a vital part of this wedding."

"But I'm not," Callie murmured back triumphantly, but the look Addison gave her still sent her running.

"Sorry about that," Addison apologized, turning back around and placing her napkin on her lap.

"Is that how you guys always talk to each other?" Alex questioned, doing the same.

Shaking her head, Addison fidgeted with her place setting. "No, only when we are teased when we really don't want to be," she answered.

"Would you rather we forgot about what happened on the beach?" he offered. He really didn't want to – he hadn't laughed like that in ages – but if it was making her uncomfortable…

After thinking for a minute, Addison once again shook her head. "No, I'd rather not forget that," she admitted. "I had fun, and I haven't had fun in a very long time."

Alex smiled. "Good," he said. "Me, too."

**A/N: I'm short on time, otherwise I would have continued to write this chapter, but I wanted to get it out. Hopefully it won't take me five months to update this again, but you'll never find out if you don't REVIEW!**


	8. Miss Manners

**The Best Man**

A **Private Practice **fic by Gigi

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 8: Miss Manners

**A/N: So this has taken way too long to update, and I'm really sorry for that. I have no excuse except life is really busy once you begin college. And I also have like twenty other fics to update, so yeah, that takes time. Anyway, enjoy!**

Miss Manners probably disapproved of Addison now. The last time Addison checked, it was impolite for the Maid of Honor to go MIA during the rehearsal dinner. But after a dinner filled with laughter and light flirting with her former intern and envious glances and significant looks from her former husband, Addison was at her wit's end. Pete kept sending her smiles, as did Mark, who also tended to look murderously jealous when he looked at who sat beside her.

It was all too much. She couldn't decide, and constant kisses from Derek, Alex and Pete were _not_ helping. Which was why she was currently hiding in the ladies' room, sitting with her legs crossed on the plush red sofa inside and staring at the patterned wallpaper directly across from her. The sounds of laughter and of people enjoying themselves filtered through the closed lounge door, making it even more obvious that Addison really shouldn't be hiding out in here.

Alex's hand kept brushing hers on the table, or his leg would accidentally knock against hers. Then he would make a sarcastic comment and smirk that infuriating smirk that made her want to slap him and kiss him at the same time—and it was driving her _insane_. She felt almost _guilty_ for enjoying herself with Alex when her ex-husband, who confessed he still wanted her and kissed her just four days prior, was sitting right across the table from her and staring at her as if she was some beautiful masterpiece. She found herself blushing every time his eyes met hers, watching how his features softened upon looking at her, as if she calmed him down just by being near him. It made her feel beautiful and wanted and loved, but then she was also feeling giddy and nervous and gorgeous around Alex, and warm and cozy and content with Pete…and Mark went _sixty days_ without sex just so he could win back her trust!

And of _course_, they all just _had_ to be some of the best kissers ever to walk the earth!

Every nerve in her body felt like it was going to emit sparks any time any one of them looked at her, and she felt like she would explode at a touch. So really, she was hiding out in the bathroom for her own health. She can't just go around the rehearsal dinner as if everything was normal when she could spontaneously combust at any moment!

Unfortunately, Addison couldn't take that justification any further than that, thanks to Violet poking her head into the bathroom looking for her.

"There you are, Addison," she breathed in relief. "Naomi is looking for you. The toasts are about to start."

Barely suppressing a groan, Addison put on a brave smile and heaved herself up off the couch. "Great, I just needed a moment to myself is all," she apologized, seeing Violet's inquiring eyes. "Shall we?"

Addison ignored the still-curious gaze of her psychiatrist friend and instead led the way out of the bathroom. All too soon, she was sliding back into her seat next to Alex.

"Where'd you disappear to?" he whispered in her ear, sending involuntary shivers down her back as she occupied herself with replacing her napkin on her lap.

"Just needed some time to gather myself," she excused, avoiding his eyes. Thankfully, he didn't get the chance to ask her why she needed to gather herself because Sam was standing up with a champagne glass in his hand.

"Thank you all so much for coming tonight," his began. "Now, I don't really have much to say. Strike that—I have no idea _what_ to say." Sam's bright white teeth flashed in an amused smile at the laughs his statement elicited around the room. "I just know that I'm extremely grateful to be standing here today, next to the love of my life for the second time. Now, obviously, I'm really not all that great with speeches, but my best man, Derek Shepherd, is, and he was more than happy to step in and make up for my lack of eloquence. So, without any further ado, Derek, would you like to say a few words?"

Derek stood up smoothly and flashed a friendly smile towards the groom. "Thank you, Sam. The first time I gave this sort of speech was at the first go-around with these two. Hopefully, it'll stick this time," he joked, earning himself a light punch in his side from the man sitting to his right. "I'm not really worried, though." His eyes searched the room and finally locked with the eyes of the maid of honor. "When two people have such a deep and precious history as theirs, when they have seen each other at their absolute worst and still never hesitated in loving the other, that is when you know those two are meant for each other." His bright blue eyes shone as he memorized Addison's every feature and nuance, from the red hair to the way she chewed the inside of her cheek when she was nervous—which she was doing right then. "Throughout the last two decades, they have wandered away from and found their way back to each other, unable to deny that what they have is special. The hard part was just getting them to admit it, and _believe_ me when I say that took far too long for my taste." The occupants of the room chuckled, all but Addison and Alex. They both knew this speech was no longer about Sam and Naomi. Alex was glowering, but Addison looked helplessly lost. "I'm going to save my truly amazing toast for tomorrow night, but just one last thing: I couldn't be happier that Naomi and Sam found each other again. I have no doubt you two will be happy together until death do you part."

Derek raised his glass, as did the rest of the room, all chiming, "To Sam and Naomi."

Alex leaned over to whisper in Addison's ear, sending her jumping a foot out of her seat in surprise. "To be fair," Alex murmured after he'd finished laughing, "not all of us have the opportunity to stand up and give a fancy speech to get your attention."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Addison lied haughtily, trying to ignore the way his breath ghosted across her ear at the same time as she tried to forget the look in Derek's eyes when he was speaking. "That speech was for Naomi and Sam."

Alex chuckled darkly. "Sure it was, Addison," he whispered in response before straightening and returning to his dessert.

Addison shot him a small glare before doing the same.

**8D**

Addison collapsed onto her couch, utterly exhausted. It was nearing one in the morning, and she was finally done preparing for the wedding the next day. All she could think about was how her life got so complicated. Why did none of these men want her when they actually had her for the _first_ time? Okay, so Derek did, but then he stopped and she slept with Mark and that whole mess started.

Groaning, Addison heaved herself off her couch and made her way down the hallway. She was crossing her foyer and had her foot on the first step when the doorbell rang. Her eyes darted to the clock on her wall—12:45 a.m. Who on earth would be at her doorstep so late?

She peeked through her window and felt her eyes go wide. She unlocked the door, seeing him standing on her doorstep as if nothing were out of the ordinary, his black leather jacket hanging open and his hands thrust into the pockets of his slacks, smiling that smile that made her go all melt-y inside.

"Pete?"

He didn't even respond. He surged forward and brought his lips crashing down on hers. Addison was lost. Like a good hostess, she invited him in, and Pete was gentlemanly enough to shut the door behind him by pressing her up against it.

**A/N: You guys probably hate me right now. Maddie fans, especially. I'm sorry about that, but boy do I have plans for this story! I hope you still enjoyed this chapter, so please let me know and REVIEW!**


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